


You're Going To Be Great

by upintheattic



Category: Animaniacs
Genre: Animaniacs reboot, Character Study, Emotional Comfort, Yakko Has Anxiety, Yakko needs a hug, bugs bunny just being a dad and mentor to our boy yaks, good thing bugs is there then, kind of, takes place right before the reboot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-13 05:21:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29646387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/upintheattic/pseuds/upintheattic
Summary: Bugs and Yakko talk about the new reboot and Yakko has a few worries, good thing Bugs has been redrawn, rewritten, and rebooted more times than the younger toon can count (granted he can't do math but that's besides the point).
Comments: 1
Kudos: 35





	You're Going To Be Great

**Author's Note:**

> i am well aware that i'm very behind the trend and totally missed the hype train and this is super over done at this point but its been sitting in my drafts forever and i don't have the heart to delete it so i'm posting it anyways. its not that long either plus i think its pretty good tbh (takes place just before the reboot happens)

Being a toon does a funny thing to your memory. Anything new that gets written into your canon is suddenly just that Canon and now you're filled with a surge of strange new details and thoughts about yourself. It mostly just happens when you’re given your backstory later in the show and the quick unfamiliar memories settle into your ink and it's as if you’ve always known that part of yourself was there and wasn’t until now that you remembered it. Of course there’s the occasional redcon, plot hole, or plain lazy writing that does complicate things, usually it’s minor. After enough time you’ll be as right as ink again and don’t have to think about how your lover died in your arms but not really. Not anymore at least. They’re actually alive and maybe that’s a copout but as a toon you don’t really get a say about these things.

Truthfully it’s never really that much of a bother, sometimes it can be fun to discover that part of yourself. It’s only ever a problem when there’s continuity error and suddenly you’re stuck with two versions of what happened to you; side effects of continuity errors are random splitting headaches, the inability to properly use hammerspace (if said toon as that ability), and worst of all commonly forgetting your lines.

But that kind of thing isn’t a problem when you’re a big shot, beloved favorite, or a classic. Although that last one it’s rare, the classics are treated with little respect by the higher ups, if they aren’t bringing in the movie and show deals then they’re as good as a dry pen. Then there’s the ones that rise above the rest. You have your Mickey Mouse, your Spongebob, your Bart Simpson, what have you; long has past the days of Mighty Mouse and Betty Boop and Popeye. 

At Warner Bros. the toons that are the big shot, the beloved fan favorite, the popular classic are none other than Bugs Bunny himself and then of course there’s Daffy Duck and Porky Pig. Masters of the craft of comedy and just… the perfect toons. 

They don’t cause chaos on set constantly, they don’t go running off because they don’t like the script and much rather mess with someone else, and they definitely don’t get locked up in a water tower every night of every day because they’re too out of control, because they’re too toony (if there was such a thing), because they were intentionally bought off the stretch pages instead of just jumping off without warning; unlike three well known toons.

The reboot was they’re big break, hopefully. A chance for them to be treated better and be beloved by a whole new generation of kids and be in the limelight again… and just get to be zany to the max on T.V. like they used to. 

Well, things would be different this time around. They weren’t invading some Saturday morning cartoon slot, but instead being ported to a streaming platform. 

That was a first. Things were so different now that sometimes it felt hard to keep up and that was a problem when your stick is making fun of current events and being timelessly funny. This would be challenging but not the Warners' first challenge and they were ready to take it head on.

"Hey Bugs," Yakko said after a long silence.

"Eh, what's up doc?" Bugs grinned and Yakko rolled his eyes.

"I can't believe it, folks! He said the thing," Yakko jokingly faked excitement but couldn't help his grin. "Want me to 'goodnight everybody' next?" Yakko teased.

Bugs raised an eyebrow but was smiling too. "No, no. I think we're good. We got the joke out of the way early. Now what did ya want?"

Yakko's smile fell slightly and he twiddled his gloved fingers nervously, he almost didn't want ask his question now. Not wanting to ruin the good mood but he had to do it. 

“Does it hurt?” The question had seemingly come out of nowhere. Bugs raised an ear and half smiled. 

“Ehh, you’re going have be more specific, kid.” 

Yakko wiped his face with the back of his hand and tried not to let too much of his feelings get to him, he knew he couldn’t hide them from the older toon. There would be no point in trying; standing on the deck of the water tower, overlooking the movie lot, Bugsy wondered if the kid had given up on whatever question he was asking. 

To anyone else it might have seemed strange to see the great Yakko Warner, a toon who’s entire life was made to be just yakking it up constantly, at a loss for words. Maybe that just came with taking care of someone, you get to see the bits of them that the world doesn’t get to.

“Being rebooted, I mean. Does it hurt? Or feel… Weird? ” Yakko said, his mouth feeling dry. Bugs leaned over the railing and pretended to think for a second longer than he needed to. The pause increased Yakko’s nerves. 

“Like bad weird, not good weird like having a piano fall on your head but the bad weird where everything is awkward after a bad joke.” He rambled; there was that yakking he was famous for, but now it was just nervous babbling.

“Ehhh, it can be but not always.” Bugs answered honestly. “I would know. I’ve done it enough times now. You’ll miss the parts of the design they take out or change or simplify, but you’ll get over it. If you’re lucky they just clean up your lines and keep you on model….” The toon trailed off and the words hung in the air longer than Yakko was comfortable with. 

The answer wasn’t awful, but it didn’t fail to get the steady flow of nervous thoughts in the boy’s head to continue. Before he could let himself begin to spiral, he spoke as if they hadn’t said a word for a few minutes.

“Y’know I’ve never been a fan of staying on model. Makes me face stiff” Yakko interrupted the silence with a joke; stretching his face out and letting it go without warning, before his face smacked back into place it reeled into itself with a spin, and untwisted with such high speeds that Yakko was lifted off the metal floor a few inches. When the spinning suddenly stopped he fell right back down, his whole body shaking in response like a tipped over bowling pin. 

Bugs got him to stop with a single finger pressed on top of the young toon’s head, completing the bit. Yakko, despite knowing it was bad to laugh at your own joke, couldn’t help but chuckle.

“How was the timing on that one, eh, Bugs?” Yakko looked up to the famous toon, it was hard not to since Bugs was a foot taller than him and as Yakko saw it the perfect toon. If Bugs Bunny thought you were funny then you were funny. 

“Mhmm,” Bugs put a hand to his chin and shut an eye tight pretending to be hard at thought before suddenly grinning. “Great as always, kid.” 

He patted the top of the smaller toon’s head and smiled. “You’ve always been a natural.” 

This should’ve been the best feeling ever, Yakko was being praised by his idol and sure this wasn’t the first time, Bugs does his best to try check in with the siblings, but something was off. He couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that Bugs was hiding something. 

“Think the fans will like us? New and old? Enough to get renewed?” Yakko asked and the rabbit’s face fell to a frown. That was it. The hard truth of every toon when it comes to reboots, as quickly and as suddenly they get a new series or movie or even just shorts it can all end just as quickly. 

One moment you’re the next big thing and then you’re back to how things were, a fond memory but feeling like a stale joke. No one liked a joke that went on for too long but at least two seasons would be enough just to feel that buzz again of being a funny and loved toon with new jokes and new stories and new fans and….

Yakko already felt like his ink was drying up before they even started filming the first season and he’s freaking out about it being over and them being forgotten again. It’s hard to shake the thoughts that you’ll never be as loved as your original hay day.

Bugs’ shoulders dropped slightly and he put a hand on the shorter toon’s head. “I hate to be the one to tell ya this, but these things are tricky. There’s never a full guarantee as to what will happen, but you can’t let that hold you back. You need to be the funniest toon you can be and enjoy it while it lasts.”

Yakko held onto the rabbit’s arm and tried to keep himself from crying, he wasn’t much of a crier but he had his moments. “What if they don’t think I’m-err we’re funny?”

“Is that what this is about?” Bugs half smiled. 

“Uhhhh…. Maybe?” Yakko smiled back sheepishly and shrunk into himself slightly.

“Kid, you could out talk me some days and those sibs of yours? Don’t tell Daffy this but I’m a big fan of Wakko’s slap stick and Dot still has her quick wit. You guys use hammerspace better than any of these new toons could ever dream of! You’ll be fine. You’ll all be fine. Listen, Yak, I know it's scary but once the cameras are on it’ll all come flowing back to you and you’ll be cracking jokes and yakking it up just like before. Probably better than before! They’re going to fall in love with you three all over again!” Bugs said and his joy was so genuine you could feel the love he felt for the Warner Bros. and sister. “Trust me, I would know. I’m a bit of an expert on reboots by now.”

Yakko’s eyes went starry and he couldn’t help but jump onto the toon and hug him tightly, arms wrapping around a few too many times. “Thanks, Bugs. I really need that.” Yakko said, voice muffled as he pressed his face to Bugs chest.

Bugs stared down at the kid and smiled fondly, patting his back. “Ehhh, it’s no biggie. Like I said, you’re a natural, kid. You’re going do great.”

**Author's Note:**

> this is waaay different than all the other fics on my account and tbh kinda of harder to write for but it was a fun change of pace and gave my brain a break from my usual stuff. feels good! but i probs will be sticking to my typical mbav fandom stuff but a random varying fandom thrown in once and a while isn't bad either. hoped you enjoyed !!! <33


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